This invention relates to electronic monitoring systems and more particularly to a computer-controlled monitoring system for monitoring continuously and accurately the operation of communication systems.
Electronic monitors of various degrees of complexity are known. They range from very simple power monitors, which measure power at a specific location near the transmitter, circular, cavity, N-way junction or antenna, to more versatile models which provide remote readout at an off-site panel that accepts and/or delivers information pertaining to power level and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR). In addition, some units are known to include remote communication of alarms, corresponding on/off power conditions, and local environment conditions such as, temperature, humidity, intrusion and fire.
The problems with the known monitoring devices include their inability to generate and communicate actual measurements, to permit the programming of upper and lower operating limits, and to adapt to specific operator needs such as calculating specific insertion loss characteristics across filters and cavities.
A major advantage of the monitor of the present invention over known monitors is the provision of a computer-controlled, expandable electronic monitoring system. The system of the present invention accurately and continuously monitors electronic systems, programs their operating parameters, meets various user needs, and tunes or retunes any tunable components without degrading overall performance of the system being monitored. These features enable the monitor to detect "soft" failures of the systems being monitored. Soft failures are the result of a slowly degrading system component, such as a corroding connector or a gradual shift in a cavity's resonant frequency. With properly set alarm limits, the monitoring system uncovers and communicates a transmit problem when performance drops below tolerable limits.